Reflector revised: ReyLight Pineapple Brass 14500/AA Flashlight, Nichia 219C 4000K

Rey,
Any update on a discount code? $49 is acceptable but it would be cool to save a few dollars if possible.

1. ReyLight Brass Pineapple 219CT 9050 4Modes Mini EDC LED Flashlight AA/14500
Price: $39.99
Coupon Code: f48441

I saw a $36 special too but don’t know if that is just for tomorrow or something.

Thanks Gunga, that’s helpful!

Sorry, I will update this code to the OP.

BTY, LED has arrived.

I measured 4080K with a CRI (Ra) of 91 and CRI (R9) 62. Tint is on the green side of neutral unlike a 219B, but at 4000K the deviation of 0.0039 it’s not very noticeable. I like the tint very much, even though there’s a bit of discoloration in the middle of the hotspot and a lighter ring in the midpoint of the spill.

There’s visible PWM on all modes except moonlight, but no audible whine. PWM is less visible on high than on the low and mid modes. Also some dirt under the lens in mine.

Thanks for the great data (again), maukka!

Disappointed to hear about the PWM. Does using an AA vs 14500 make a difference in this regard?

No difference. Also tried a lithium primary.

Now in a quieter environment I can hear whine on mid and high, but only ear next to the light. Same frequency so the output is adjusted by the duty cycle.

Oh well. Hopefully it’s not TOO visible.

If there’s any specular highlight reflections and you move your eyes a bit, it’s very noticeable. On a flat surface, good enough, unless you try to photograph or take a video of it.

I’m disappointed too about the visible low frequency PWM in the pineapple, did not expect that here (I bought 4 drivers from Rey), I thought we left that behind. And Rey should be very aware of our concerns about low freq. PWM, back in 2012 upon our request, he already arranged for his Trustfire Mini-01 group buy light that the PWM frequency went up from under 500Hz to about 1000Hz (I’m ok with anything above 1000Hz).

maukka, any idea what frequency the PWM is?

2 kHz, but the problem is the low duty cycle (short burst of light, long period of darkness), which makes it very visible. On the highest mode the duty cycle is high, so it’s not very visible.

Possibly the capacitance in my leads makes the signal trailing edge slow. So ignore them, it’s just a photodiode directly connected to the scope.

Ok, 2KHz is not too bad IMO, even in a low duty cycle situation. I was fearing we were back to 500Hz. Still a pity that this driver could not be done with over 5KHz PWM, or true current control in the lower modes.

So there is still a duty cycle going on on the highest mode? Sounds unneccesary.

Here’s high.

Again, visually I’d say it does drop to zero signal very briefly, but the measurement doesn’t show it, too slow to react to signal changes.

Sorry, I was told it was 2K Hz, thought it’s fine. Higher PWM might cause a worse runtime.
Will talk with them if there is any way to improve for the next batch.

Thanks for the test.

Edit: Still got a lot to learn. Thank you all.

Also, I’m not sure if it has been said already but there’s no low voltage protection with 14500s. I just ran my Efest down to 1.2 volts.

Voltage protection can’t happen on a AA/14500 light?

Rey, 2kHz PWM is visible but I usually do not find it very disturbing, and I think most normal people are ok with it, but we are not normal over here :innocent:

And I agree that maximising runtime is important too.

I got wildly different output measurements compared to the specifications.

AA NiMH Eneloop
Moon: too low to measure in my 30cm sphere
Low: 2.6 lm
Mid: 22 lm
High: 74 lm

14500 Li-ion Efest
Moon: -
Low: 7.6 lm
Mid: 96 lm
High: 320 lm

All at 30 sec with batteries hot from the charger.

Runtime on high
26 minutes on a 650 mAh Efest IMR 14500, 115 lm*h
2 hours 37 minutes on an Eneloop XX, 137 lm*h

Those charts make me concerned. What’s your methodology for measuring lumens?

They also make me wonder how Reylight estimates light output. Are the numbers they gave emitter lumens instead of real world lumens?